how to purify water to drink

Survivalist shows on cable can show ways to purify water that require nothing more than a few pebbles, a whole in the ground, a bit of plastic sheeting and some sunlight. Of course this only provides a limited amount of drinking water and is reserved for extreme situations. On the other end of the spectrum, huge electrical facilities can power desalination plants which turn polluted saltwater into water fit to drink. Places such as Australia and some Persian Gulf states are increasingly relaying on the latter at a huge cost. In the middle of the two methods is the the way in which water can start off from a generic source such as an aquifer or a lake to a potable water.

The first step if required is to screen large particulates and material from the water at the source. Then it is passed through various types of filtration, which may include base materials like gravel and sand. Often then it is treated with chemicals or processes such as chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, ozone, and chlorine dioxide is often added to render it fit for human consumption. These chemicals with unhealthful containment kill pathogens in the water and can help clarify the water. Other methods to purify water include carbon filtration, which is to push or pull the water through an activated carbon filter. Reverse osmosis is when water is passed through a membrane, usually by centrifugal force, which is just big enough to allow water molecules to pass through but no pathogens and later yet still microscope entities. Salt can even be excluded in this way. Distillation is another way to purify water, where liquid water is heated to the boiling point, and re-cooled into back into liquid water. The vaporization of water leaves all the impurities in the initial vessel of water.